Review Summary: Industrial, now with 100% more Beauty and the Beast style vocals.
The opening moments of most albums with an industrial/EBM slant are normally filled with samples, chaotic soundscapes, or something similarly filled with dissonance. On
Fallen Into You Mechanical Moth shakes off this pervasive routine and creates one of the most beautiful opening tracks in the genre that I have ever heard. While this might come off as a bit hyperbolic the bands unique use of female vocals (reminiscent of Gothic metal) combines extremely well their more electronic influences, melding into something unique to the genre. Even though subsequent albums pushed aside this sound
Fallen Into You is definitely worth a listen.
Throwing seemingly all their tricks out of the bag early, the second curve ball throw to the listener comes in the form of Tandrin's vocals; to continue the Gothic metal example Tandrin provides the Beast, his voice is low but yet refrains from being guttural and is heavily distorted when compared to the Beauty of Matricide's pure lines. While many may groan at the though of Beauty and the Beast vocals in industrial music the effect is quite subtle, as Tandrin and Matricide interweave only occasionally at full volume. This creates an interesting effect, as many a audience member will like the combined vocal effect, while others will yearn for their favorite soloist to have more time in the spotlight.
This also causes the groups first issue to become far too readily apparent; Tandrin's vocals are either spot on or horrible. On “Gateway” the lyrical hook is lost in the haze of what can only be called a rasp, as Tandrin has far too much time speaking lines that don't fit his voice. Combined with the repeated song structure this creates the first major hurdle in the album, and is a stark reminder of the fact that
Fallen Into You is a debut release. Other little quirks become apparent as well, the group enjoys employing piano lines whenever Matricide seemingly opens her mouth and though beautiful it shows lack of development as the album eventually draws to a close.
While “Gateway” might have stood out for negative reasons there are a couple that do so for the reverse; “Personal Oblivion” is catchy and shows off some of the bands lyrical prowess while “Herz Aus Stein” weds Matricides voice with the gorgeous cadence of the German language to great effect. Though the album is 13 tracks long moments that standout are rather spaced out, and the average listen will only garner a few standout moments. A few of note include the muted, building growl of Tandrin on “Hope (A Deaf Lie),” the welcome harshness of the title track, and the entire interlude of “Answers.”
Mechanical Moth have created a debut that really tries to make one forget it's a debut. Using a metal concept and bringing it to the industrial genre isn't something new, however the more subtle approach to Beauty and the Beast vocals works really well for the group.
Fallen Into You is great when the bands on top form, but when the immersion is ruined the reality that this is only a first release comes rushing in. While far from perfect
Fallen Into You is unique, and in a world where many artists are striving for the next club hit it's nicer than one would think to not be assaulted with oontz, but caressed with beauty.
